CFGE work influences philosophy and practice in Japan

Summary

“Friendship building on behalf of our respective children is the single best approach we have to creating world peace.” It is this mantra, espoused by Executive Director Tracy L. Cross, that has driven the College of William & Mary’s Center for Gifted Education in its endeavors internationally.

Full Description

In relationship to
the CFGE’s work with Japan, that friendship building may eventually lead to a
philosophical shift in the way gifted education is viewed in the country.

Traditionally,
gifted education has not been practiced in Japan because of that culture’s
emphasis on an egalitarian society. In December 2009, the Ministry of Education
of Japan made a historic decision to send teachers abroad to study gifted
education within the context of science education. Twenty Japanese science
teachers came to William & Mary for a week-long program in which they
learned about curriculum and instruction for scientifically talented students.
They attended workshops led by CFGE faculty and staff then visited schools that
implement the CFGE science curriculum.

To
continue this cooperation between the United States and Japan relative to
science education for talented students, Kimberley Chandler, curriculum
director at the CFGE, traveled to Tokyo in August 2011 to present a paper
entitled “Science Education for the
Gifted: Innovation for Meeting the
Diverse Needs of Students” at the annual conference of the Japanese
Society of Science Educators. Like the visit by the Japanese teachers in 2009,
this presentation is part of the groundwork being laid by Manabu Sumida of
Ehime University to incorporate the theoretical and pedagogical tenets of gifted
education within science education for young children in Japan. Although Japanese students perform well on
international measures of science achievement, attitudinal surveys reveal that
they do not view science favorably. Sumida has hypothesized that the nature of
the science curriculum in Japan (lecture format even in the early grades)
results in this phenomenon. He has introduced the CFGE’s science curriculum
units as an example of how to present science in an engaging and challenging
manner for elementary students.

Sumida
has adapted the Project Clarion science units that were developed at the CFGE
to meet the needs of young scientifically talented students in Japan. In the
spring of 2012, he will run the second session of a new Saturday program (modeled
after the CFGE’s Saturday Enrichment Program), in which he and other science
educators use the CFGE curriculum units to spot and develop scientific talent
in their students.

Sumida’s work has
heightened the center’s excitement over improved gifted education in Japan.

“This cooperation
is exciting because it is indicative of the possible scope that our work here
at William & Mary has to influence educational practice globally,” Chandler
said.